Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (1): 227-234.

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The Effects of Attachment Security on Retrieval Phenomenological Characteristics of Autobiographical Memories

  

  • Received:2019-12-02 Revised:2020-06-23 Online:2022-01-20 Published:2022-01-20

依恋安全对自传记忆提取现象学特征的影响

孙莉1,贾成龙1,冯伯乐1,秦金亮2   

  1. 1. 浙江师范大学
    2. 浙江师范大学杭州幼儿师范学院
  • 通讯作者: 秦金亮

Abstract: Autobiographical memory (AM) is the memory of an individual’s self-related information. AM usually contains lots of vivid perceptual details. The subjective and experiential characteristics of AM are the phenomenological characteristics, such as vividness, subjective sense of time, and a sense of reliving. These phenomenological characteristics of AM make it possible for people to “relive” the original experience again and contribute to self-identification and self-continuity. And an individual’s attachment security influences the retrieval of attachment-related AMs. According to the self-memory system model, the current goals of working self-system and conceptual self-system can influence the encoding, construction, and retrievalof AM. Attachment security may affect AM processing through these two self systems. And one’s self-system is constructed in the process of interaction with others, especially important others, such as parents and romantic partners. Relationship is the foundation for an individual to understand self better. The researchers define the pattern that individuals know and understand themselves in the relationships between self and important others as relational self-construal. Relational self-construal is largely defined by intimate relationships and has an impact on self-processing. Thus, as an important part of the self-system, the relational self-construal is closely related to an individual’s attachment security and self-related memories. In summary, the relational self-construal may mediate an individual’s attachment security and the phenomenological characteristics of AM. The present study explored how the attachment security influence the retrieval phenomenological characteristics of attachment-related AM and the possible mediation role of relational self-construal between attachment security and phenomenological characteristics of AM. Experiment 1 and 2 used the attachment story reading priming paradigm to test the influence of attachment security on the retrieval phenomenological characteristics of attachment-related AMs. Both experiments were single-factor experimental design. The independent variable was the priming type (secure attachment priming group, insecure attachment priming group), and the dependent variables were the retrieval phenomenological characteristics of attachment-related AMs: positivity, clarity, vividness, specificity, accessibility and emotional intensity. In order to examine the effects of attachment priming on the retrieval characteristics of AMs, the AM task was performed directly after the attachment priming paradigm in experiment 1. In experiment 2, to test the mediating effect of relational self-construal on attachment security and the retrieval characteristics of AMs, after the attachment priming paradigm, the participants were asked to complete the relational self-construal scale first, and then the AM task was performed. The results were as follows: (1) For relational-interdependent self-construal and the retrieval phenomenological characteristics of attachment-related AMs, the main effect of attachment priming type was significant. The scores of relational-interdependent self-construal and the retrieval characteristics of AM (clarity, specificity, vividness, and accessibility) of the security attachment priming group were significantly higher than those of the insecure attachment priming group. (2) Relational-interdependent self-construal played a partial mediation role between attachment security and the clarity, specificity, vividness, and accessibility of attachment-related AM. This study shows that attachment security, relational-interdependent self-construal, and AM are closely related. The attachment security impacts the retrieval phenomenological characteristics of attachment-related AM through two pathways. The first is that attachment security affects the retrieval characteristics of AM directly. The second is attachment security affects the retrieval characteristics of AM indirectly by influencing one’s relational-interdependent self-construal. Taken together, these results preliminarily verify the hypothesis of self-memory system model.

Key words: attachment priming, autobiographical memory, phenomenological characteristics

摘要: 个体在回忆自传记忆时的主观体验特征称为自传记忆的现象学特征,而这种个体精神现象学特征的早期推动是个体依恋特征。研究采用依恋故事阅读启动范式,探讨依恋安全对自传记忆现象学特征提取的影响。研究结果显示,安全依恋启动组自传记忆的可得性、具体性、清晰性、生动性和关系自我构念显著高于不安全依恋启动组,且关系自我构念在依恋安全与自传记忆现象学特征之间起中介作用。研究从新的角度表明,依恋真实地生活在复杂的人际关系中,建构着个体关系自我构念,并真切影响着自传记忆现象学特征,积蓄着个体精神现象学特征的形成。

关键词: 依恋启动, 自传记忆, 现象学特征